Chapter 46: Reaching Cooperation with the Goblin |
After studying this function for a bit, Jiang Chen roughly figured out how it worked.
Simply put, this system allowed him to set the quest rewards himself.
After the NPC completed the quest, the settlement would be calculated based on the amount of gold he paid.
The less reward paid and the higher the task completion, the greater the additional reward the player would receive after settlement.
To Jiang Chen, this setup felt quite novel.
Moreover, if used properly, even some annoying side quests could be handed off to NPCs to complete.
However, Jiang Chen was not sure whether the game had fully developed this feature.
“In any case, let’s try it first.”
Jiang Chen decided to give it a shot.
“Your name is Gree, right?” Vivian stepped forward, her gaze landing on the goblin.
“So, can you tell us everything you know in detail?”
Gree hesitated, his eyes darting around uneasily.
“You won’t be short of benefits.” Vivian tossed out a few silver coins.
Catching the coins, Gree’s eyes lit up.
“Of course, I’d be delighted to serve you.”
“This matter has to start from when I received that damned letter from my brother.”
“You know, we goblins value contracts very much, so I mobilized my companions to help with this.”
“At first, things didn’t go very smoothly.”
“After all, Silvermoon City has such a large population. It was too difficult for just a few of us to let everyone know about this.”
Gree then recounted everything he had experienced during this period in detail.
From how the initial promotion had no effect at all,
to how he later found a very small newspaper and placed the notice in the most inconspicuous section,
and then how the news suddenly began to spread on a large scale, even being featured on the front page of the Silvermoon City Daily.
“Of course, I also discovered quite a few people secretly fanning the flames.”
“At the time, I thought you had hired others to help promote it.”
“So I didn’t pay much attention.”
“But now it seems things aren’t like that at all.”
After hearing Gree’s account, the two of them finally understood the sequence of events.
Lilith turned her gaze toward Vivian.
“So Vivian, do you know what’s going on?”
Vivian shook her head. “Lilith, could this have something to do with you?”
“With me?” Lilith pointed at herself, then immediately denied it. “I don’t know anyone in Silvermoon City.”
“Obviously, neither do I.” Vivian’s words carried deeper meaning. “So it seems something we don’t know has happened.”
A smile curled at her lips.
“This just got interesting.”
“But…”
Vivian looked at Gree.
“Gree, are you willing to accept a new commission?”
“If Miss is willing to pay sufficient compensation, I would be more than happy to serve you.”
“Excellent!” Vivian was very satisfied with the answer.
“As long as the information you provide has sufficient value, I naturally won’t be stingy with the reward. Of course, aside from this matter, I’m also willing to pay for any other useful intelligence.”
“In short, as long as the information is useful to me, the reward will not be lacking.”
As Jiang Chen’s voice fell, a new quest window appeared.
【Quest issued to NPC: Collect Intelligence.】
【Quest Reward: Unknown】
【Information Obtained: None】
【You may end the commission at any time to settle rewards.】
【Current Evaluation: E】
Seeing the suddenly appearing quest panel, Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction.
The general mechanism of issuing quests was that the less reward he paid and the higher the value of the intelligence obtained, the greater the final settlement reward would be.
It was precisely for this reason that Jiang Chen chose to purchase intelligence in batches.
Aside from wanting to obtain more useful information, he had also taken into account the special nature of the goblin race.
Treacherous, cunning, and prone to betrayal—they had it all.
When dealing with such a race, Jiang Chen was certain that if he paid upfront, they would dare to take the money and run.
Therefore, paying in advance was not a viable approach.
Nor could he disclose the reward amount beforehand. If it was too little, the other party might not work seriously; if it was too much, this fellow would most likely fabricate false intelligence, take the reward, and run.
This plan was something Jiang Chen had devised after considering all factors.
However, what surprised him was that Gree already had a piece of intelligence at this moment.
“Miss Vivian, I think our cooperation can begin right now.”
“I just happen to know some information that might be useful to you.”
“You purchased quite a number of Sacred Artifacts today, didn’t you?”
Vivian nodded.
“Those people are currently searching everywhere for your whereabouts. Presumably, they intend to act against you.”
While observing Vivian and Lilith’s expressions, Gree continued, “And I know who is behind them.”
“Oh?” Vivian became interested.
She tossed out ten silver coins. “Go on.”
After receiving the coins, Gree wiped them on his somewhat dirty clothes before carefully tucking them into his pocket.
“Connor Watson, from the Watson Family of Sundabar, the Steel City.”
“He’s the youngest son of the Watson Family. I heard he used to be a good-for-nothing, but recently he suddenly rose to prominence.”
“These Sacred Artifacts all came from their hands.”
“Although they’ve done things very discreetly, they can’t escape my eyes. And I suspect there’s an organization behind him.”
At this point, Vivian’s eyes lit up.
Useful information had arrived just like that.
“You’ve done well. Do you have more intelligence?”
Gree shook his head. “But don’t worry, I’ll find more useful information soon.”
“Then I look forward to our next meeting.”
And just like that, the initial cooperation with the goblin was established.
Watching Gree leave, Lilith looked at Vivian with some concern.
“Um… Vivian, have you really thought this through? Working with that goblin?”
“Do you really believe he can obtain any useful intelligence?”
Clearly, Lilith did not have much hope in that goblin.
Jiang Chen was not surprised that Lilith thought this way.
As for Silvermoon City, the city known as the Pearl of the North, Jiang Chen had some understanding of it.
It was an extremely divided city.
People from all over gathered here.
There were top nobles from various regions, as well as those from remote areas struggling to survive.
Here, one could eat a meal worth dozens of gold coins, or buy black bread for just a few copper coins.
To live in this city—especially at the bottom—everyone had their own way of survival.
As for why Lilith held no expectations, Jiang Chen understood clearly.
In the end, it was prejudice.
But Jiang Chen did not share that prejudice. To him, it didn’t matter whether the cat was black or white—so long as it could bring him rewards, it was a good cat.
“Next, I can try my other important idea. But before that…”
As he spoke, Jiang Chen’s gaze swept across the various potions displayed on the shelves of the Alchemy House Shop.
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